Archaios | Sicily Alaesa KAINON Griffin Club / Horse | AE

Description: Archaios Numismatics __________________________________________ Description: Greek Bronze Coin of Alaesa ('Kainon') in Sicily under Dionysios II Circa 340 B.C. Obverse: Griffin leaping left [Locust / Grasshopper standing left below]. Reverse: Horse Galloping Left with reins flowing loose behind neck; partial ethnic [K]AINO[N] in exergue (just barely visible) Mint: Syracuse, Sicily Size: 20 mm Weight: 7.53g Ref: SNG Cop 134 Condition: Good Fine. Nice example of this interesting coin ! Use the Picture as your judge as grading is subjective. Notes: Alaesa (also Alaisa or Halaesa) was an ancient city of Sicily built on a hill about eight stadia from the sea (Diod. xiv. 16), on the north side of Sicily between Cephaloedium (modern Cefalù) and Calacte (modern Caronia). It was founded in the year B.C. 403, by a colony of Sikels under a chief named Archonides, after whom the city was sometimes called Alaesa Archonidea (cf. the inscriptions on the later coins). The Sicels were an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, but they rapidly fused into the culture of Magna Graecia. Its earliest coins date from the period of Timoleon’s war with the Carthaginians (B.C. 340), when many Sikel and Sicanian towns joined the alliance against the Carthaginians (Diod. xvi. 73). From the in- scription ΑΛΑΙΣΙΝΩΝ ΣΥΜΜΑΧΙΚΟΝ Alaesa would seem to have been among the chief of the Sicilian allies of Timoleon, but, as the word ΑΛΑΙΣΙΝΩΝ is sometimes wanting, there is no absolute proof that all the coins of the allies were struck there. The coins reading ΚΑΙΝΟΝ (‘new money’) evidently belong to the same period as the rest. These were previously attributed to Caena but now seem to be generally attributed to Alaesa. They may have been struck by mercenaries in the employ of Dione of Leontini. Its possible the variant with Locust represent a local event of plague of locust that had filled the sky and impacted local harvests around the time of minting but it is impossible to know with any certainty. Excerpts taken from Head Hist. Num., and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia We Thank You for stopping in and taking time to look at and bid on our listings. Good Luck Bidding or Buying !We encourage you to click the "See other items" link above in the "Seller Information" area of the listing as well to check out our other items posted. We have a variety of great classical and other ancient numismatic items available. We will be regularly continuing to post for sale and auction a wide variety of Ancient Roman, Greek, and Eastern coins as well as Medieval, Byzantine, and some Modern coins as well. We can combine shipping if buying or winning multiple items. Just contact us before you pay and let us know and we will gladly send an updated invoice with the combined shipping amount. You can also follow us to be notified when new listings are posted. With over 20 years in the numismatics hobby we continue to revel in the excitement that comes from holding each new small piece of history in our hands. We enjoy the enduring sense of history both of the prior uses and users as well as the creativity and necessity that surround the time and place at which these coins were minted and used in circulation.Our aim is to cater not just to the high end collector but also to the hobbyist and the newly initiated and those on a limited budget. Everyone starts the hobby somewhere and where we can share our knowledge to help inform or jumpstart your collecting pleasure we will aim to do so. We want you to love every purchase you make with us and we always stand by the quality and authenticity of all the coins we are selling.

Price: 79 USD

Location: Seattle, Washington

End Time: 2024-12-01T20:03:41.000Z

Shipping Cost: 3.5 USD